Graham

Hmm.......color me unimpressed. I think I'll actually pass on these. Graham

Props to the people who made it for trying and I'll say it's a thousand times better than I could do myself. But sorry, I just found it quite painful to listen to. Graham

It seems to be just the tip of the bar that''s breaking, where it narrows and changes from a rectangular cross section to a circular cross section. Graham

Heh, mine arrived at the office yesterday. Opened it up and immediately had the first 'oh sh*t' moment! As I gently lifted it out of the plastic tray, the two small painted silver plastic parts located near the neck & handlebars, that hold the front section of the bike on promptly fell off. See pic below: - Luckily a couple of drops of super glue fixed the problem and I was back in business. Another minor niggle was that there was a big glue fingerprint on the left side of the bike, where the two magnets are located. I managed to get the bike transformed into robot mode in a couple of minutes while only having to glance at the instruction manual a few times. Overall, I'm very impressed with the design and engineering that went into this toy and the high level of detail and articulation. Most of the joints were nice and tight and the robot balances well. The magnets are also executed quite well. I love the detailing behind the visor. Getting Shogo into the cockpit is a pain in the posterior though. I also wish that the robot could hold the gun a bit tighter. A peg on the guns grip mating with a hole in the right hand would have been a nice addition. Second big 'Oh Sh*t' moment came when I took the toy home. Rather than carrying it back home in it's box, I left the box at the office and put the toy in robot mode in the plastic bag that the instructions came in and then put that in my bag, together with a couple of books and DVDs I was carrying. The toy was on the top of the bag though, so was not being squashed in anyway and I was being careful. When I got home, to my horror I found that the tip of the right metal bar (about 3mm long), where it plugs into the wheel had somehow broken off and now the right arm cannot securely attach to the toy and falls off quite easily. Tried gluing the tip of the metal bar back on, but could not get a good bond on the zinc pot metal. Also, I tried transforming back to bike mode this morning and the big rear red light fell off. This is only press fitted, so it was easy to reattach. Also, the grey plastic shoulder spike on the left arm came apart and fell off. Seems it was not glued at all and was easy to reattach. I want to like this toy, I really do. Perhaps, I'm just unlucky and got a lemon, but while it's a very clevely designed toy, it does so far seem overly fragile. Graham

No. Graham

Met Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat and several other minor HK celebs while working on various HK movies back in the '90s. Celebs don't impress me. They're just people like you and me. In fact many of them tend to be real Alpha Hotels. Graham

Good news. From what I understand, the second run of VF-0S due out in July is supposed to have tighter knee and elbow swivel joints. Graham

Correct. Graham

Heh, I normally just thow mine away. No space for the bloody things anymore. Graham

Don't be an ass. You don't know that and are assuming. And if you do, then state your sources. vinnie 407818[/snapback] Both of you, no personal attacks or name calling please. Graham

They're 'Man-Dolls', not dollies! Graham

I think the means the shipping cartons are blank, not the actual individual toy boxes. Yamato shipping cartons usually hold 4 x 1/48 IIRC and are brown card, with the writing (Yamato name, PO number etc) printed in blue). Graham Graham

I emailed the Saab online shop about the book and they just replied that it is in English. Graham

Didn't there used to be a live-action Witchblade TV series, with the title role played by some ugly girl with a unibrow? Graham

Release is now rescheduled to July. Graham

Can anybody tell me what the weight of the Super Stealth box is? My scale doesn't go up that high. Graham

CD Japan has it. I've ordered from them many times and they are always fast and reliable. Graham

Can you let me know the title and ISBN number and I'll see if I can order it from somewhere. Graham

Do you still have the link? Graham

Just read from Jane's newsletter, that the F-35B engine is having overheating issues.....heh! And what's this Saab book you guys are referring to. I'm a big fan of Saab's planes. Graham

I don't think it's necessarily good news. I mean if neither Yamato nor any other toy company want to touch Macross 7, what's good about it. The differences between the YF-19 and VF-19F/S/P are huge. Pretty much every single part is different between the designs, requiring completely different tooling. I've studied this matter in depth in the past. IIRC without checking the linart, the only common parts between the YF-19 and VF-19S/F/P may be the hands and biceps, but every other part is different. Graham

Macross 7 VF-11C is all white with black trim. The heatshield is also white. The FAST packs are a sort of dark blue or greenish blue depending on what source material you look at. Overall the Macross 7 VF-11C color scheme is reminiscent of the DYRL Super Valk scheme, although without a chest color stripe. Other differences are that the thrusters on the Macross 7 VF-11C's back FAST Packs are squarish, whereas on the Mac Plus VF-11C, they are bell (or cone) shaped. Also, the VF-11C has a different more streamlined gunpod with no bayonet and the back-mounted FAST packs only have two micro-missiles launching ports per pack, compared to 4 per pack on the Mac Plus VF-11B. Overall, I prefer the color scheme of the Macross 7 VF-11C to the Macross Plus VF-11B. Graham

This movie doesn't open here in Hong Kong until July, bucking the recent trend of simultaneous worldwide release for summer blockbusters. However, I showed my 2 year old son, who absolutely loves cars, the online trailers at the weekend and he really enjoyed watching them. I'll probably buy him the DVD when it comes out, as he's still a bit young for the cinema experience. Graham

From what I understand, Bandai's Macross 7 license has lapsed and they have not renewed it. So if Yamato wanted to pick up a Macross 7 license they could. However, as Yamato already have a license for VF-X2 mecha, there is not much point for them to also spend money on a Macross 7 toy license. With the VF-X2 license they can make VF-17, VF-22, Full Armored VF-1B if they wanted to. The only thing they cannot make is the VF-19 Fire Valk and VF-19F/S/P. However, I get the impresion that Yamato thinks there is not that much of a market for the Macross 7 style VF-19 series. Graham

Could somebody please explain to me what is the difference between instananeous turn and sustained turn rates. I thought a turn is a turn? Graham